But Then I Got High

Updated on January 31, 2013

I’ve often wanted to share this story over the years but fear of judgment has made me scared to tell. Well, I’m over that now. This story is too good not to be shared. For the record this was a long time ago and I was in a completely different place in my life.

I was hanging out with a friend one night and we had decided to go get a beer. We ended up getting cigars and sitting on a patio, smoking cigars and drinking. I was about half way through with my cigar and had just finished my drink when he said, “We should go back to my place and smoke some pot then we can come back out here and listen to a band”.

I had never been high before, I had taken a hit a few different times and just thought I was immune to it. I really thought pot was kind of pointless but I decided I’d give it one more shot just to humor him. “Let’s do it.” I said and we were on our way to his place.

When we were back at his place he got out his little pipe and packed the bowl. He fired up and took a big hit. He knew I had tried a couple times and failed to get high so he had me take three big hits. It burned my lungs like crazy so I got a drink of water and he went to the bathroom. While he was in the bathroom he heard me say “Uh-oh”. When he came back out of the bathroom I was on the dark side of the moon.

I was just standing staring into space and not moving. He had me sit on the couch and turned on the TV. I think a basketball game was on ESPN but I couldn’t focus on it. I tried really hard to focus and I could focus with my eyes but my mind would not comprehend what was happing on the screen.

The sensation was like being very sleepy but not being able to go to sleep. I told him I was sleepy and he said well take a nap. “I don’t understand” I said. I didn’t remember how to go to sleep. I kept repeating “I don’t understand”. I could figure out what was going on. I was trapped inside my head. I kept thinking that I might always be high. What if I never come down? That thought was all I could think and I was starting to freak out.

My friend saw that I was starting to freak out. He moved me to an inner room in the house and had me sit on a small couch in there. I sprawled on the couch and he went to get me a glass of water. I was still very confused and freaking out. I took a sip of water and tried to remember how to swallow and finally figured it out.

My friend came back into the room with me and told me “It’s been about 15 minutes so we should start coming down soon. It usually only lasts about half an hour.” He was lying to try to make me feel better.

At this point a scene from the movie Get Him to the Greek came to mind. One guy takes some crazy heavy drugs and is freaking out and so his friend has him rub a fur hanging on the wall and says “Rub the furry wall”.

There was a super soft blanket on the couch and so I started rubbing it and chanting “Pet the furry wall”. I kept doing this over and over and surprisingly it started to work.

I got out of the trap in my head and realized that if I just let go it was really very pleasant. Suddenly I was no longer trying to swim upstream. This may sound weird to some people but it literally felt like I was being carried by a current of energy. I was floating in the river of dreams and now I was enjoying myself.

I lay there on the couch rubbing the furry blanket and moaning. The blanket was the softest thing I had ever felt. It was so soft and I couldn’t stop stroking the furry blanket. I focused on my movements just long enough to realize I was only moving my little finger on the blanket. I was moving my little finger about an inch in one direction and then back and the most beautiful sensations were sweeping over my body. The feeling of that blanket was the most comfortable feeling I had ever had.

My friend came back in and said “This is going to blow your mind.” He got on youtube and started to play Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb. It was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard. The song described how I felt perfectly and suddenly I knew I shared something with Pink Floyd. I not only heard the music but felt it sweep over me in waves and then I could actually see it. The air was moving like waves on the ocean and each wave was an almost imperceptible color.

Then my friend started talking to me. I don’t remember a word he said but I remember seeing the words spill out of his mouth in bright, brilliant colors. They poured out of his mouth in slow motion and tumbled through the air and then splashed onto the floor and formed little pools. I remember thinking that this was not weird but normal. Not seeing someone’s words would have been weird.

My friend played several songs from Pink Floyd to the Beatles and then he played Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley. I almost wept it was so beautiful. I lay there as the song splashed over me in beautiful waves of color and pleasure. It was at this point I realized that this was the most pain free I had ever been in my adult life. It was such an amazing feeling.

I can remember my friend asking me if I wanted to go somewhere. The only words I could get out were “My feet are like tree roots growing into the ground”. I couldn’t remember how to move my feet. He finally got me up and was going to drive me home. By this time bed sounded really nice so I went along. On the way home I laid back in my seat and just let the river take me along for the ride. I remember being asked if I wanted to go to Denny’s. “I couldn’t move a fork from the plate to my mouth” was my response.

After I got home I slept for about 9 hours and woke up to find I was still high. I was at about the right place at that point. I was high for 17 hours all totaled. I’m sure some of my friends and family will judge me for this but I would never trade this experience for anything. It was an amazing experience and I feel like I understand so many things I never could grasp before.

I haven’t touched marijuana since that day and don’t feel like I need to again. For me it was an experience not a lifestyle. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

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